True Value Burglary Suspect Caught in the Act

A man is behind bars; accused of burglary and 11 News is told he was caught in the act by Deputies.

The burglary took place at the True Value Hardware and Trailer store east of Canon City.

Between the regular True Value customers who walk through the door, one man, Edward Erickson began to stand out.

“This guys has been coming in and acting strange, and I said can we just kind of watch extra when he comes in,” True Value owner, Jeanne Garoutte said.

Garoutte’s suspicions were right and on Wednesday things escalated. She says Erickson started a grass fire outside the building and came running in to tell them about it.

“We thought maybe he was trying to distract us so he could come and steal something. He was thinking everyone would run outside."

But it didn't go as planned. It took only one employee to stop the fire and Erickson took off. Garoutte then contacted the Fremont County Sheriffs office and gave them Erickson’s license plate number and advised them to watch out for him. Later Wednesday night, a Deputy came by their store and found the lock on the gate cut.

“The gentleman had already broken into our parking lot he was in behind the fence,” Garoutte explained.

Deputies say Erickson tried to run and then hide behind the trailers but they arrested him and found a loaded gun in his front seat. Garoutte has a message for other business owners.

“Take a notepad if someone comes in continually and their acting strange; take down their information just in case, because you never know.”

Deputies also found burglary tools and photo IDs as well as license plates believed to be stolen from several people in the Canon City area. Erickson also had four outstanding warrants.

Erickson is currently in the Fremont county jail facing several charges.

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